Avid Juicy-7 Carbon Hydraulic Disc Brake: 2008 updated MC/lever with restyled aluminum body, carbon lever blade and red aluminum PCP adjuster knob: 30g lighter (no 203mm kit for 2008)
Submitted by
JR
a Weekend Warrior
from So Cal (USA)
Date Reviewed: September 30, 2011
Strengths: Powerful with good modulation.
Weaknesses: Can get noisy, pad contact dial does virtually nothing, difficult to bleed.
Bottom Line:
As much as I like the power and feel, I have had problems keeping air out of the system. And bleeding is challenging. Some reviewers said bleeding is easy, but the easiest way I found to bleed them was to have my LBS do it. Syringes pushing and pulling brake fluid? I see many other MTB hydraulic disc systems bleed this way too, so maybe I'm just out of touch. I also had problems with the caliper pistons binding over time causing the pads to rub and squeak making my fellow riders want to run me off the trail. And the pad contact dial has never seemed to do anything at all. Good brakes, but mine have been finicky. And that silly pad contact dial looks cool enough, but I wish it did something.
Submitted by
eleminohpee
a Weekend Warrior
from Sacramento, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: August 29, 2011
Strengths: These brakes work great and are a great value. Easy to isntall and set up, and the levers are comfortable and it all works with the SRAM matchmaker setup.
Weaknesses: Kinda ugly, not that that really matters.
Bottom Line:
I would suggest these to anyone. Especially if you stay in the SRAM family and do the matchmaker setup. These have been around so long you could also find a great deal on a used set like I did, although in all fairness I have not tried bleeding them yet so not sure how that goes, although I did bleed my Reverb and that was no problem.
Bike Setup: Runing with centerlock 203s on a 2006 Specialized Enduro elite.
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
toothoogre
a Cross Country Rider
from Sedona, AZ USA
Date Reviewed: May 27, 2011
Strengths: Low maintenance. Great modulation. Great power Durable. Great value.
Weaknesses: the pad adjustment does seem to do much if anything. Pads can be a bear to change on some calipers.
Bottom Line:
I've used these for years (5?). I started with Hayes and finally gave up because they were so hard to bleed. The Avids are a breeze to bleed. I ride in dry weather, so I get 7-8 months out of a set of sintered metal pads in the rear. I have to bleed every 6-8 months of riding every other day : 2000-3000 miles a year. These brakes are great. Low maintenance great stopping power. Great for a biker on a budget.
I can't say anything about serious heat dissipation since I don't DH. I'm 215# with gear on a 44# bike, so I take a lot of stopping. I use the 203 mm rotors.
Bike Setup: Turner sixpack and delirium t plus rockshox boxxers in beefy bomber mode (42 and 44# bikes)
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
jellytronics
a Weekend Warrior
from Baltimore, MD, USA
Date Reviewed: May 16, 2011
Strengths: Smooth like hydraulic brakes should be. Decent stopping power. Pad contact adjustment.
Weaknesses: Brake levers are held in place by a pin which over time wears and the levers begin to have play in them. Have yet to interfere with the operation of the brake system.
Bottom Line:
In 2+ years have never serviced them, changed the pads, or taken them apart for any reason. They came on my Motobecane from bikesdirect so the price isn't accurate. Great set of brakes.
Strengths: Work Great in any condition. Easy set up and when they worked, they worked great. I loved them for a year. The something went wrong and couldn't get them straight again.
Weaknesses: One day my bike fell over. After that, they began worbling and my front brakes made my whole front end start shaking hard. I rebuilt them and it continued. I finally got some XTRs.
Submitted by
DIck Hurts
a Cross Country Rider
from SF, CA USA
Date Reviewed: November 27, 2010
Strengths: Strong, Simple, Quiet (after some fiddling),
Weaknesses: Some fiddling/set up
Bottom Line:
I do not know what all the whining is about. Yes owning a bleed kit is handy (once a year, maybe) after initial set up. Yes if you want better response first make sure you have big(er) rotors (think leverage). Yes one should learn how to true their rotors (as part of first set up) but man o man once these are set up I truly don't get what all the whining is about.
One trick I did was to mix one organic and one semi metallic pad per caliper, both quiet and great stop and great modulation. (hint put the semi metallic pad on the higher ware side. Again, once these are set up, use em and forget em, but if they are never right then guess what, they will never be right.
I am actually looking to put a smaller rotor on the rear as 203 is just more then needed
Strengths: These brakes are awesome! I have used them for three plus year with no problems. They have great stopping power, modulation & adjustability. I have bled them a few times and the Avid system is the best and easiest to use.
Weaknesses: None!!
Bottom Line:
These have been reliable for three years of heavy ridng.
Submitted by
BokorSolo
a Weekend Warrior
from Prince William, VA
Date Reviewed: May 24, 2010
Strengths: Great deal, $70.00 each. Good stopping power for my usage. Look great on my bike.
Weaknesses: None so far. I guess they were a little noisy when I first got them.
Bottom Line:
These brakes were an awesome deal I found to replace my Hayes Nines after I had an accident and I gotta say that they have been great. The stop perfectly and the little adjuster knob works pretty well when I am riding different trails and I want a different feel.
Similar Products Used: Hayes Nine, Shimano XT brakes, Shimano LX hydraulic.
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
gearjunkie88
a Cross Country Rider
from San Antonio, TX
Date Reviewed: May 12, 2010
Strengths: Cheaper than other hydraulic disc brakes
Weaknesses: noisy, constant need for bleeding
Bottom Line:
I used these brakes for a couple of years. They were noisy (lots of grumbling noises, when dry or wet) and required bleeding quite often. It was quite annoying, but I thought this is just how hydraulic disc brakes were. When they were dialed-in they worked great. Good stopping power and 1 finger stopping power. With use, the bleed would wear off and the levers would eventually hit the handlebars, which required an annoying re-bleed. I have no idea what the red adjustment knob does. No matter which way or how many times I turned it, it never seemed to do anything. The pads would rub on the rotors some days, but on other days, they wouldn't. If you don't mind noisy brakes that are finicky, then these aren't bad.
Submitted by
Mitch1960
a Weekend Warrior
from Green Bay, Wi, USA
Date Reviewed: April 27, 2010
Strengths: Makes noise when I am stopping - a positive just in case I don't pick up on it.
Weaknesses: Many - original pads fell out (rear) during a race. Replacement pads fell out a second time. High pitched whining sound when brakes are applied. difficult to install pads.
Bottom Line:
Love the bike, hate the brakes. Very disappointed overall - for a high end brake they didn't do their engineering right.
Similar Products Used: Shimano Deore hyraulic brakes
Bike Setup: Trek Fuel 9EX
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Submitted by
Cheburashka
a Cross Country Rider
from Manchester, UK
Date Reviewed: April 25, 2010
Strengths: Reliable (fit and forget) once set up correctly, good modulation.
Weaknesses: Noisy before I started using the purpose-made Klein torque arm (good luck finding one of those these days!) and organic pads. Can be a pain to initially install caliper to stop rotor drag, although admittedly no more difficult to Hayes brakes I've tried. Problems with rotor drag on rear at high speeds with 6" rotor (despite caliper being perfectly centred and rotor perfectly true - there must be some flex somewhere in my frame/hub etc): Rotor drag was completely cured with 140mm rotor, which also required purchase (for £6) of Avid caliper adaptor for 140mm rotor size.
Bottom Line:
Excellent brakes, would recommend. No problems with fluids/bleeding or piston retraction.
Similar Products Used: Shimano xt, juicy 3, juicy ultimate, magura
Bike Setup: Transition cover, pike, rp23, revo wheels, XT
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Submitted by
mbrzezinski
a Cross Country Rider
from Warsaw, Poland
Date Reviewed: March 3, 2010
Strengths: Low weight.
Weaknesses: Terrible noise, bad rotors (drag!!!), in wet conditions the brake pads can be worn within few hours. DOT4 – because the brakes leak quite often – you can have your forks paintwork destroyed. The Avids are not reliable at all.
Bottom Line:
I had with the Avid brakes pain in ass. After the second or third visit in bicycle workshop (I couldn't set the brakes myself after hours of losing battle, the Tri-Align system is a piece of crap, and the leaks...) the man in the workshop said: „I have had Shimano XT brakes for 2 years and I don't remember, I have brakes”, so I paid for fixing my Avids, then bought a new set of Shimano XT brakes. Since then I keep the Avid Juicys in my garage, don't want to sell them to anyone to make them anhappy. I have had my new Shimano XT brakes for 7 months and... zero problems with rotors, leaks etc. – it is possible!
Submitted by
Hangtime
a Weekend Warrior
from Portland, Or
Date Reviewed: February 15, 2010
Strengths: Great stopping power, Bleed easy, awesome adjustment
Weaknesses: Some worbble noise. I can handle it.
Bottom Line:
I bought these brakes new in early 06' and have had them on three different frames. They have seen everything from wet PNW winters to Whistler DH and they have been great. They set up easy and are very strong. I switched out the levers to Straitlines for a better feel. I only run Avid after owning these. I have looked at other brands but can not justify replacing them when they work so well. They get bled every Spring and a new set of pads and they flat out rock. One component I dont have to worry about.
This is the second time this has happened. I'd like some feedback before I take the bike to my LBS.
Goin' downhill taking hits from some cross trail ruts and baaam, suddenly no Read More »
Hello-
Looking for some advice here. Mainly to see if most of you all do your brake work yourself or leave that to the professionals.
I was taking out my pads to day to sand Read More »
Looking through the Avid parts manual I see that the Juicy Seven line ran from 2006-2009. For 2008 the lever internals were updated. How can I tell whether I have the first genera Read More »
I was under the impression that the Avid Juicy Seven stock brake pads were semi-metallic. However, all the new Avid brakes have organic pads stock.
Does anybody know what kind Read More »
